


never let me go

by blitzle



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Werewolves, F/F, F/M, I'll probably tag more things later, Nicole is under appreciated, Supernatural Elements, Supernatural Nicole, Werewolves, both in this fic and the show, honestly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-24
Packaged: 2018-12-12 23:53:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11747790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blitzle/pseuds/blitzle
Summary: Being a silent hero never really bothered Nicole that much until it meant lying to Waverly. Her job also became a lot harder when her girlfriend and friends became involved with some of the most dangerous supernatural creatures in the country.In which Nicole is a werewolf that came to Purgatory to protect it, but Waverly actually might kill her before she gets a chance to.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Everyone! This was a little rushed to be posted but I got this idea in my head and I just wanted to get at least a little preface out before I went ahead and kept writing to see if anyone would be interested in this. I'm a little nervous in general about posting this since it's the first work I've ever published. That being said, if I continue I’ll probably need a beta so let me know if you’d be interested! Hope you guys enjoy.

In hindsight, getting shot in the abdomen was probably mostly Nicole’s fault, but she also pegged her relationship with Dolls to be a lot stronger than it apparently was. Sure, he was a pretty stoic guy, but _come on_ , she didn’t think that constituted for this kind of treatment.

To be fair, he also had no idea it was her, but rather an enormous, reddish brown wolf with bright eyes and sharp teeth that could snap an arm in half. Still, it’s not like she used them a lot. In fact, she was trying to _help them_ , mind you.

As she stumbled clumsily through the tall grass on all fours, the image of Waverly’s Earp’s wide eyes was still engraved into her brain. God, it was going to be hard to talk her way out of this one…

She remembered when she had shifted her attention to Wynonna who had been standing to the side of Waverly, eyes almost just as cold as Dolls. Her lips had been pressed into a thin line, but a hand clutched Peacemaker tightly, as if to remind Nicole that if Dolls hadn’t reacted so fast, then she would have been the next one to end her fate.

It had been dark, and the rain was pouring buckets since this afternoon, but Nicole really wanted to believe that if Waverly had locked eyes with her for a moment longer she would have stopped Dolls before this whole fiasco had happened. Waverly would have known, and she would have grabbed Dolls’ arm and pulled him back before he shot the beast before them.

They had found each other in the middle of the woods, working on an ongoing investigation. A boy in his late teens had disappeared a week ago, and they had reason to believe he would be in a cabin in the woods that belonged to a friend. Normally, this would be more in the Purgatory police wheelhouse instead of BBD, but it hadn’t been the first occurrence of a boy around his age from town disappearing. There main assumption was that it had to do with the revenants in town, but Nicole had a gut feeling this was something else. So, she had purposely shifted to go investigate the matter on her own, only to find out Dolls, Waverly, and Wynonna apparently had the same idea.

She remembered hearing low growl come from directly behind the trio. While her triangular ears had pricked at the sound of it, it appeared no one else heard it over the thunderous clouds rumbling above them. So naturally, Nicole had bared her teeth and growled. She didn’t even wait a moment more after she saw blood red eyes standing in the tree line right behind Waverly. She lunged forward, legs springing off the ground to propel herself forward.

The gunshot echoed even over the noise of the storm. What was even louder was the terrified yelp that rumbled from Nicole as she collapsed onto the ground right in front of Waverly who had jumped back. When she looked up, the eyes were no longer there—and whatever Nicole had been chasing had apparently ran off.

She didn’t wait for Dolls to reload his gun before she hightailed it out of there, staggering back through the brush before she could make it out of the woods and into the fields, a trail of blood dripping behind her.

That brought her to here, blindly trying to find her way back home. Not _home_ home—she quickly made the conclusion there was no way she could make it back to her house that was closer downtown without bleeding out. So she followed another scent—Waverly’s, to be exact, right back to the homestead.

She knew for a fact no one would be in there now since it would take a while for Dolls, Waverly, and Wynonna to drive from the woods back home. Not only was it closer, but she knew she wouldn’t have to break in since Waverly had not only shown her where the spare key to the house was, but had also given her an extra a couple weeks ago after a rather special date.

She sees the property in the distance, and it’s all that she needs to give herself that last burst of energy to send her running. Well, a version of a run. A limping-run, if you would.

She passes the boundary, a protection she was well aware of given she was supernatural herself, but had hardly applied to her since she was not a revenant. Her line of vision moves when she sees the lights were off in the barn, a sign that Doc wasn’t around.

The wolf padded around, making her way up the steps to the front porch. She didn’t notice the mixture of blood and rainwater that stained the wood, nor did she realize her claws scraping into the surface since she was feeling such an immense surge of pain.

It took her a moment to shift back to her more familiar state, but when she did, she simply laid on the deck for a second. She coughed and wheezed, and when her hand lifted from the tattered clothes hanging off her body she could see it was covered in blood.

With a shaking breath, she pushed herself up to a sitting position. She crawled over to the potted plant sitting beside the rocking chair, and plucked off the key that had been strategically positioned between a stem and a leaf so it was hidden. Nicole rose to her feet stumbling, and jammed the key into the door before yanking it open and staggering inside.

Her hand immediately reached out to hold onto the wall. She hobbled around the house until she made it in the kitchen. She pulled her t-shirt over her head, trembling as she looked down at the wound. It essentially looked like a hole gushing blood out of her stomach, and would have instantly made her want to hurl if she hadn’t been so desensitized from their constant demon hunting sprees.

Her bloody fingers gripped the edge of her sink while she sucked in a deep breath through gritted teeth. She knew the worse thing she could do was take the bullet out, despite that being the most instinctual action. She grabbed the kitchen towel, noting she’d have to replace it with a new one for the Earp girls later, and headed to the bathroom.

Not so surprisingly, their first aid kit was pretty hefty seeing as they all have gotten their fair share of cuts in bruises from being in Black Badge and from fighting the supernatural in general. She grabs a handful of gauze, ace bandages, towels, and disinfectant before figuring out she probably has about five minutes to get the hell out of the house.

She runs out front, the screen door slamming shut behind her. Her eyes widen when she sees bright headlights coming from down the road. Nicole uses up all the extra energy she can muster to get to the barn before anyone can see her.

The rain drenches her once more as she slips unnoticed through the backdoor.

The barn is mostly renovated. She sees that Doc does a pretty good job of keeping it clean despite his normal habits. Of course, there’s a few empty bottles of whisky next to the door, but then again no one is ever perfect, Nicole thinks. The bed is made and everything is put into neat places in and on the dresser Nicole remembers she helped Doc load into the back of Wynonna’s pickup from a tag sale about two weeks ago.

He currently doesn’t appear to be around. But Nicole is still antsy about him returning from Shorty’s soon. Her eyes shift over to a ladder in the corner of the room, and above it. The ceiling is pretty open with beams crossing back and forth, but she notices a tiny little hayloft platform in the corner. While she isn’t entirely sure it’s safe, she doesn’t have many other options until she gets the strength to make it back into town.

Nicole applies more pressure to the gauze on her abdomen. Her t-shirt is still hanging over her shoulder, but she decides she’s better off without it. She then tightens the towels to the wound, trying to do everything in her power to stop the bleeding. Her powers will help with the healing, but she knew she would have to rest before it could actually kick in.

So, she makes the decision to ascend the latter despite the fear that the whole platform will come crashing down. When she reaches the top, she admits it’s a little rickety, but after positioning herself on a pile of hay behind some bales, she figures it’ll do just fine.

Just as she begins to settle down, her ears prick again at the sound of the doors of the Jeep slamming shut outside. She closes her eyes, not knowing really what the house will look like given the mess she left behind. There’s a small square window that she can look out of, but it’s so dirty that it’s hard to make out any distinct details.

All she really can see is Dolls, Wynonna, and Waverly walking up to the house. Dolls stops them though before pulling out his gun, and slowly approaching the house. All Nicole can do is a let out a tiny whine before rolling onto her back, trying to control her breathing while keeping her hand firmly pressed to her side.

It’s peaceful for a while. She doesn’t worry about her friends and girlfriend though, seeing as there’s nothing in the house to hurt them. She instead listens to the rain pattering against the roof of the barn, eyes staring at the tiny droplets that leak through here and there.

She’s in a hell of a lot of pain, but the calmer she keeps her mind, the more it begins to ebb away. However, her anxiety shoots right back up when she hears the barn door slam open, causing her to jolt and wince in pain.

She makes sure they can’t see her, but continues to peer from behind a bale as Dolls searches the barn with his gun held high. When he calls out, “Clear!” Nicole listens as two more footsteps come in after him.

“Nothing?” Nicole sighs internally at Waverly’s voice.

“It would appear whatever came through here was looking for something.”

“Well this makes zero sense,” Wynonna complained, “Did you see the dog foot prints? You think it was that wolf?”

“Wouldn’t be the craziest thing that happened in this town.” Dolls replied.

“It would be up there on the list, at least.” Waverly reminded, “Did you see the human handprint on the wall inside, though? And the door was unlocked! It couldn’t just walk right in, even if it was the wolf. You don’t think…”

“Werewolves?!” Wynonna shouted immediately, “Oh man, I didn’t even know those things existed! Yeesh, you’d think they’d be a little more original. What’s next, vampires?”

“Do not taunt any vampires to come here,” Dolls groaned, rubbing his temples, “That’s a supernatural creature I’m good with never dealing with again, thanks.” He pauses before adding, “I don’t know that much about werewolves, though. I’ve seen one once before, but it was much scarier than that.

“This is crazy,” Waverly tried bringing them back on track, as she usually does, “You think that’s what killed that kid in the woods?”

“Well the claw marks and wet dog smell makes a little more sense now.” Wynonna shrugged.

“It’s possible,” Dolls interrupted, “But usually werewolves travel in packs. The one we saw was alone. So either it had a pack and got separated, or it’s a lone wolf, which may be even worse.”

“That still doesn’t explain how it knew where the spare key was and got in the house.”

“We’ll have to do a little bit more investigating. It doesn’t look like it came in here, so why don’t we check around the house a bit more?”

“Fine, but I’m calling Nicole. First to tell her to call in about the boy so she can call it in to Nedley, and then to get her ass over here because this is creepy as hell!”

As they walked out of the barn, Nicole let a sigh of relief from the loft. Thank God she had left her cell phone at home, or else that could have led to one awkward situation.

While Nicole wanted to look out the window and try to process everything that happened within the last couple of hours, her vision became very blurry. She knew it was her healing abilities taking over, forcing her body to shut down so it could repair itself. With a sleepy yawn, her eyes slowly slid shut. Sleep never came faster.

 ---

As consciousness began to return to Nicole’s body, she slowly blinked her eyes open. A warm ray of sunlight was shining down on her body, hugging her skin. She rolled over to her side slightly, hand reaching out to push herself up when she realized she no longer was in the hayloft.

She rubbed her eyes to see she currently was lying down not in the hayloft, but a comfortable bed. Not just any bed…the bed in the barn. Doc’s bed. She looked down to see her shirt was still off save for her sports bra, and while the wound on her stomach was still sore and painful, it looked as though it was healing up just fine.

The clattering of a bottle on the counter across the room startled Nicole. Her gaze snapped over to see Doc himself setting a bottle on the table. “Oh, Officer Haught! You are awake, excellent.”

“Wha—“ Nicole blurted, “How did you find me?”

“Better yet,” Doc reached down to his holster, pulling his revolver out and pointing it straight at Nicole’s chest, “Why don’t you go ahead and explain to me what sort of witchcraft you are capable of performing?”

“ _Witchcraft_ ,” Nicole scoffed, rolling his eyes, “Give me a little more credit than that.”

“Now, I know a regular human being when I see one,” He gruffed, not lowering his hand, “And while I am quite happy to see you did not bleed out to death up there, I know you should have. And yet, here you still are. All patched up. Even after you were shot.”

Nicole’s eyes flickered to the door, “Does Waverly know I’m here? Or Wynonna? Dolls?”

Doc pursed his lips together and shrugged, “Maybe. Not sure what it would matter to you, seeing as you have clearly abused your power to get close to Waverly, all for—well, perhaps you could explain that to me? Why you would manipulate such a sweet girl like her?”

Now Nicole’s expression fell. “No…” She began before shaking her head, “No, no! I would never. You got it wrong. Everything I felt—everything I _feel_ for Waverly is real. It’s the realest thing I’ve ever felt, if that makes any sense. I would never do anything to hurt her.”

“Except lie?”

“It’s for her safety,” Nicole’s eyes lowered to the bed. Her fingers fidgeted. “Everything I do is so she’s safe—so everyone’s safe.”

“What are you, Nicole Haught?” Doc growled one last time.

She inhaled deeply before closing her eyes. After exhaling she finally confessed, “Okay, yeah. I’m a werewolf.”

 ---

It turned out that Doc hadn’t told anyone he found Nicole in the barn. After he put together that she had hid here on her own behalf, he had brought her back down from the loft, changed her dressings, and let her sleep in his bed. It turns out she had been unconscious for over 24 hours, though. It takes them about another hour for Nicole to explain the recent events leading up to this moment.

“Should I even ask if you need to be taken to the hospital?”

Nicole shook her head, “Won’t be necessary.”

“And where, might I ask, did the bullet go?”

Nicole shrugged, “I don’t know really how to explain it, but it’ll probably dissolve. I’ve been shot in the leg once before and that’s what happened after a few days.”

Doc shakes his head and Nicole defends herself with, “Healing powers, you know, the usual.”

He walks over to the dresser before handing over a familiar shirt. It’s still damp and completely ruined beyond repair. “Guess the blood stains aren’t coming out of this one.”

“It’s best you probably part ways with it. I can lend you a shirt of mine.”

“Would you mind driving me home?” Nicole asks, “I’d rather wait to see Waverly if that’s okay with you.”

“I’m not one to tell you how to deal with your problems,” Doc said as he gave her one of his flannels. “But I will say you might want to consider explaining your situation to Waverly. I have a feeling she would not be very happy if she found out you were keeping this secret from her.”

“I would if I could,” Nicole frowned before buttoning up the shirt, “You know I would. It isn’t like I’m afraid to tell her. I’m sure she could handle it; we deal with much, much scarier things.” She runs a hand through her hair and remarks, “You just have to trust me I’m doing my best to protect her. I shouldn’t have even told you that much about myself, but there’s a lot more to it than you would think.”

“Oh, I can imagine.” Doc nods towards the door, “Well, let’s get you home then. At least call her when you get home, she’s been a little worried you haven’t been returning her messages on your telly-phones. You should let her know you are all right.”

Nicole snickers at Doc’s pronunciation as they exit the barn. He’s been getting better at catching up with modern technology, but he still has his moments.

The fall breeze sends an immediate shiver down Nicole’s spine, but it’s finally nice to step outside. She walks slowly beside Doc, still not feeling that great to be on her feet. It’s late afternoon, about the same time Nicole had wandered into the homestead the day before.

Just as Nicole’s opening the front door to the Cadillac, the front door slams shut, causing her eyes to snap up to the figure storming towards her. “Aw, shit.”

Doc is chuckling, standing idly by the driver’s side as he watches Waverly stomp up to the redhead. “What the hell, Nicole!? Where the hell have you been!?”

“Baby,” Nicole begins, “Look, I’m really sorry. It’s kinda a long story, do you mind if we meet up—“

“No! Don’t ‘ _Baby_ ’ me!” Waverly mocks, “You’re going to tell me right now! I’ve been worrying so much. You probably have like, a gazillion messages on your phone, by the way. I thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere!”

“I’m sorry, Waves.” She sighs, “I don’t have my phone—“

“That’s no excuse!” Her eyes finally flash down to the shirt Nicole’s wearing, “Why are you wearing Doc’s clothes?”

“I—um—“ She glances over to him. He gives very unhelpful look and she stammers out, “I…was cold. Yep. So…Doc…so kindly leant me his shirt.”

Waverly’s eyes narrowed at her in a terrifying way, “You and I both know you can’t lie. Why are you lying to me?”

Just as Nicole tried to stutter out some other awful excuse, Waverly held up a finger, “Think very carefully about what you say next.”

“Waverly, please,” Nicole practically begged, “I know this looks strange. If you let me go home I will come straight here after my shift tomorrow and explain everything to you. Just…please trust me.”

Waverly stare is steely for a moment, and Nicole truly believes for a moment she’s not going to let her off the hook. But after a moment, Waverly finally takes a step backwards and shakes her head, “Fine. Do whatever you want. Just…promise me you aren’t hurt or in any trouble, right?”

Nicole swallows thickly before nodding, “Yes, everything is fine. Thank you.”

Waverly gives her one last look. Nicole isn’t entirely convinced she believes her. Still, she leans in and presses a quick kiss to her cheek before turning back to Doc who’s already scrambling into his car, not wanting to deal with Waverly’s wrath.

“She certainly doesn’t seem happy,” Doc snickered after Nicole got into the car and started buckling up, “Looks like someone is in the dog house, pun fully intended.”

Nicole glared at him, “Shut up and drive.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Everyone! Thank you for all the comments on last chapter! I had a pretty positive response so I think I will continue this story for now. What did everyone think of that episode last week?? Crazy stuff, right? 
> 
> For the sake of this story, as of now, Shae isn't going to be a major character. Additionally, I thought I would note that the show made it look like Bobo Del Rey was going to be Waverley's father. He's going to be in this story, but it won't be as her father. We can still assume she's half revenant, we just won't name her father as it's not that important to this specific story. Last thing! Wynonna IS going to pregnant. Basically, everything we know up until mid season 2 is what will pretty much stick. If anyone has questions though feel free to ask me. 
> 
> Last thing I want to say that if you guys wanna talk about the fic, the show in general, or anything else follow me on Tumblr at: commonwayfarer.tumblr.com ! I love talking to people. Anyways, on with chapter 2!

The following morning Nicole woke up sore. The wound was still on its way to healing, but she still felt rather sluggish when she moved about her house. She made sure Calamity Jane, her fluffy orange cat, was well-fed before going about her daily routine (Contrary to popular belief, she and her cat got along just fine, thank you very much).

After she got out of the shower she felt slightly better and more refreshed. She didn’t waste any time putting on her uniform and grabbing a granola bar on her way out to go to work. 

When she pulled up to the station twenty minutes later, she felt herself inhale deeply. She was slightly nervous about seeing Waverly again. Nicole still acted as a liaison between the Purgatory police department and the Black Badge Division. While her and Waverly didn’t exclusively spend all of their time at work together, it wouldn’t be the craziest thing for her to bump into her today. 

_This is ridiculous_ Nicole reasoned with herself: _Why am I so afraid to see my girlfriend?_

Well, she knew the reason deep-down. It might’ve had something to do with the fact she’d been lying to her the entire duration of their relationship about who she really was. _What_ she really was. 

_Lying is a strong word,_ she reminded herself, _Hiding from is a better explanation. Besides, who cares if I turn into an enormous dog that howls on the night on a full moon? We’re allowed to have separate hobbies._

The less not only Waverly knew—but everyone for that matter, the better. Not only that, but Waverly killed supernatural creatures for a living despite being half revenant herself. And while Nicole never intentionally meant to harm anyone, she could hardly see a scenario where the outcome would be pleasant. 

Still, she had spent all night trying to formulate some complex plan as to what her alibi would be when she had to tell Waverly where she had been the past couple of days. She didn’t get very far, but she knew she was going to have to come up with something very soon.

Finally, she finds the nerve to grab her coffee thermos and get out of the car. She walks into the station quietly, making a beeline for her office when she hears a voice that immediately makes her jump.

“Officer Haught!”

Nicole winces but slowly turns around anyways. Thank God it wasn’t either of the Earp sisters, but rather Jeremy instead. He was wearing his regular cheeky grin as he bounced over to her happily. “Where’ve ya been? You missed the whole dead-guy-gone-missing-a-second-time bust.” 

Nicole paused, eyes flickering away from him for a moment. No one else seemed to be in the office yet save for a few Purgatory deputies. She relaxed slightly and gave him her full attention. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, didn’t Waverly tell you?”

“No, I haven’t seen her in the past couple days.” 

Jeremy leans slightly to the side, eyes peering behind her at her office door. “Well?”

“What?”

He gestured vaguely, “Are you going to invite me in?”

“Huh? Oh. Yeah, sure, I guess.” 

“Neat!” Jeremy cheered, gripping his clipboard tighter, “I never got to see what it looked like ever since you got that promotion. Lead the way!”

Nicole asks as she opens the door, “Has anyone told you you’re rather odd?”

“My mom used to say eccentric, but to- _may_ -to, to- _mah_ -to, you know?”

“Not really, but tell me what happened.”

Jeremy cleared his throat before making sure the door was shut and sat down. Nicole sat behind the desk opposite of him. “Right...” He flipped through a couple papers on his clipboard before directing his attention back to her again. “Well, Waverly called into the station to let them know they found the boy, uh, John Williams? He was in the middle of the woods.”

Nicole’s expression fell. She remembered hearing Waverly mention the missing teen from the high school before she had passed out in the hayloft. He was the whole reason Nicole had been searching in the woods. She had been following his scent, and she knew she had been so close to finding him before her friends showed up…

She shook her head. “Was he…?”

“Dead? Well, yeah. They found him hanging in a tree by his leg. He was tied up to a rope.” Nicole frowned when Jeremy didn’t get the hint and kept going, “He had all these huge slashes in his skin, according to Waverly. Said he looked like he got mauled by a bear before getting thrown up in the tree. Almost unrecognizable--”

“Okay, okay, I got it.”

“Naturally, they left and called in the deputies here and they drove out to check it out. Only…he wasn’t there when they showed up. Totally gone. They couldn’t find anything after that.”

Jeremy’s now staring at Nicole in a way that makes her shift in her seat uncomfortably. She swallowed the lump in her throat. Jeremy adds, “Dolls said that they found a wolf shortly before they found the body. He said it looked feral and rabid, and it started growling and almost attacked Waverly before he shot it.”

_Feral and rabid,_ Nicole wants to roll her eyes at the thought. Sure, Nicole could be dangerous if she wanted to be, but she would never hurt Waverly, much less any other innocent in Purgatory. The real trouble had been right behind them in fact. _That’s_ what they needed to be tracking. What _she_ would have to end up tracking. 

“Anyways,” Jeremy starts talking more slowly than he usually does again. It’s creepy, and puts Nicole on edge. “They told us they went back to the homestead after the whole fallout with the cops to try and reconvene. Only, when they got back, there was blood all over their front porch. Claw marks paw prints in the wood. It didn’t look like a forced entry, though, which was interesting. It had to have known where the spare key was. And it did. And when whatever it was came into the house, there were handprints over the walls and kitchen.”

Nicole remains silent as Jeremy flips through his chart. He stands, talking as he looks at the sheets. “Dolls called me over right away and I got some blood tests and fingerprint samples to see if we could trace who the person was. I ran them through the lab this weekend and got the results back this morning, and well—” Jeremy looked down at Nicole’s abdomen where she had subconsciously placed over hand over when he had been talking. “Judging by your limp this morning and the fact you’ve been gone since it happened, it all kind of makes—wha!”

Jeremy yelped as Nicole sprung from her desk suddenly. She cringed as she moved quickly to the door, slamming it shut just as it began to open, “Officer Haught—hey!” 

Jeremy leapt up from his own seat, clutching the clipboard, watching as Nicole locked the door firmly before spinning around at him. He was quivering. “Oh my _God_!” He nearly yelped, “Don’t eat me, I’m too shrimpy! It wouldn’t be a satisfying meal at all.” 

“Ssshhh!” Nicole hissed, backing him against her desk and cupping a hand over his mouth to keep him from screaming. 

There was a loud knock on the door. “Officer Haught! We need you in the BBD office as soon as possible. We have to bring you up to speed on the William’s case.” Dolls. Sounding mildly annoyed.

“Okay! Be right there.” Nicole called. She pricked her ears, listening as Dolls eventually walked away from the door. She turned back to Jeremy who was still looking at her, terrified.

“Look, I’m sorry for being all mysterious and stuff I won’t do it again just please let me go and I promise I won’t tell anyone _please_.”

“Jeremy, listen to me.” Nicole whispered-yelled, “I’m not going to threaten you. And I’m also not going to _eat_ you. God, what crappy sci-fi movies do you watch?”

“The critically acclaimed kind, but that’s none of your business…but what about John Williams?” Jeremy asked, still not trusting Nicole fully yet. “That kinda sounds like you ate him to me.”

“I don’t know what happened. I got shot before I got a chance to find him!” Nicole nearly growls, “I was in the middle of tracking him when I came across them in the woods.”

“So it’s true!” Jeremy gasped, “You _are_ the wolf!”

Nicole sighed tiredly before moving away. She pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes squeezing shut. Okay. So now just Doc _and_ Jeremy know. She can deal with that. It had to be done, or else everyone would find out her secret. Two is better than everyone, she reasoned with herself.

“Jeremy, you can’t tell anyone. You need to destroy the file. I’ll do anything. There’s just a lot more to this than you know. But please, trust me. I would never do anything to hurt anyone here. All I’m doing is just trying to help.” She inhaled deeply before sharing, “There’s something out there. Something much worse than me. And whatever this thing is that hurt that boy…well, believe me when I say I’m going to stop it.”

Jeremy frowned. “You know; the evidence here isn’t very convincing towards your case.” 

“I know. But you know I love Waverly and that I would never do anything to hurt her. You have to at least trust that, right?” 

For whatever reason, Jeremy actually contemplated what he could do. Perhaps it was the fact he’d seen the actual good Nicole had done for the town as a deputy. Not only that, but she even became a good friend to him. He stared at her for a moment before shuffling the papers around on his clipboard. “Well…I could make it look like the DNA came from an unidentifiable supernatural creature. Dolls might believe that.” 

Nicole finally relaxed, shoulder’s loosening up as she took a step backwards. Jeremy raised an eyebrow at her and asked, “You promise you’re telling the truth?”

“Swear I am. But please, keep this between us.” 

Jeremy suddenly looked like he had been granted with an enormous task. He proudly grinned and saluted her, “You got it, Officer Haught. We better go see Dolls before he gets cranky and thinks somethings up!”

And with that, he left the room with Nicole trailing more slowly behind, feeling slightly less reassured that things would continue to go smoothly for her the longer she spent her time in Purgatory. 

\--- 

Waverly, for some strange reason, was nowhere to be found all day. When Nicole entered the BBD wing of the station, she had sauntered over to Wynonna who had been shoving her usual morning cruller and coffee (decaffeinated, of course) down her throat. Upon asking her where her sister was, Wynonna simply rolled her eyes and licked her fingers, “Not completely sure, to be honest. Probably doing more research at the library or something, sounds more her speed.” She shrugged, “Heard you guys got in a little argument yesterday.”

Nicole scratched the back of her neck awkwardly, “Err, I had family stuff I was dealing with this weekend. Had to run home quick. I was going to tell her today when I saw her.”

“No need to explain your relationship quarrels to me, Haught-Stuff. I got enough pregnancy troubles that keep me up at night, I don’t need to be thinking about yours too.” She pauses to rub her stomach, “Kid’s been sitting on my bladder all night long. You’d think it made a bed out of it.” 

When Nicole looks a little discouraged, Wynonna finally softens and grips her shoulder “Hey, you’re smart enough, I’m sure you’ll fix this on your own.” She said with a wink before walking off to go see with Dolls needed from her for the day.

The day had been relatively easy for Nicole. It mostly involved her doing paperwork. She knew she would have to face Waverly at some point, and was dreading about finding her once her shift was over. She generally did everything she could to avoid confrontation. To say the least, she absolutely hated to think that someone she cared so much for would be mad or hurt about something that was her fault.

 Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair. This was going to be tough, but she’s been through much worse. 

She loses track of time and ends up staying later than she had initially anticipated. After she grabbed her jacket and headed out down the hall, she could see that Dolls was the only agent left. She said goodbye to him, to which he mumbled a short reply.

As she walked outside to her car, she thought about how he had seemed rather reserved all day. He was probably in a bad mood given Jeremy hadn’t revealed any information on the not so forceful break-in he had been looking for. She knew from here on out she was going to have to be extremely careful. Otherwise, the probability that Dolls might catch on would only get higher and higher. 

If anything, she was surprised Dolls hadn’t figured it out yet, being not completely human himself. He had heighten senses, but apparently not to the degree of Nicole’s.

  _Still…dude can breathe fire. Wouldn’t want to mess with him._ She thought to herself as she started up her car and drove out of the station.

The Earp homestead appeared to be rather quiet when she got there. The barn light was off, so Doc was probably wasn’t home. Hopefully Wynonna wouldn’t be around like usual seeing as the older Earp had a special knack of interrupting Nicole and Waverly.

She stood facing the door for a few minutes. She didn’t know why she was so nervous, even after a couple months of dating Waverly. Nicole could never explain the way she made her heart race over the tiniest of things. Lying to her about this big secret was never easy for her, but it was necessary. Above all, Nicole was concerned about keeping Waverly safe. If that meant hiding this part of her life too, then so be it.

Finally, she found the nerve to extend her arm and knock on the door a few times. She had her spare key in her pocket, but she was hoping Waverly was home. Thankfully, her girlfriend opened the door a minute later. Nicole sucked in a deep breath at the sight of Waverly. Her hair was in a messy bun, and she was bundled up in a light blue sweater Nicole had left behind. Waverly pretty much refused to give it back claiming it was way too comfy to give up. She felt dumb admitting it, but it only made her heart beat faster whenever she saw Waverly wearing it.

“Hey,” She breathed.

“Hi,” Waverly hummed, “You want to come in? Or are you here to tell me this time that you’re going MIA during the middle of a murder investigation?” 

“I think I’ll come in,” Nicole replied wisely.

The shorter girl opened the door a little further. Nicole and her go to sit in the living room, which causes her to raise an eyebrow. Normally, if they want privacy, they go upstairs and talk in Waverly’s room. Waverly quickly explains, “Wynonna went to Shorty’s after work. I think she said something about meeting Rosita and Doc. Sit.” 

“Ah,” Nicole nodded, “Cool.” 

“Yeah,” Waverly says, falling to sit on the opposite side of the couch as Nicole. “ _Soooo_...you wanna tell me now where you were the past couple days?” 

“Well,” Nicole swallowed thickly and looked Waverly square in the eye. She recited just as she practiced in her office earlier in the day, “My mom, um, she got really sick. Was throwing up and all that fun stuff. So I drove home as fast as I could to go make sure she was okay…and I um, I brought her to the hospital so I didn’t have my cell phone on. It was a false alarm and she’s okay now, but I stayed with her to make sure she was okay before I came home. I was going to tell you, which is why I was here yesterday because I knew you were probably worried. But I dunno, I just um, kinda wasn’t ready. I was pretty freaked. So I chickened out. I’m really sorry, Baby.” 

Waverly blinked a few times, clearly still processing the whole story. Nicole must have been just convincing enough because a moment later she told her, “Hey, it’s okay. I’m happy your mom is okay. Why couldn’t you tell me this yesterday? I feel bad for getting all mad at you.”

Nicole smiled weakly, mostly because of how complex hiding this secret was becoming. Truth was she hadn’t seen her family in a _very_ long time. Nor had she been in direct contact with them ever since she moved to Purgatory.

“I guess I was just upset and exhausted and didn’t want to talk about it. But I took some time and…well, obviously I’m okay with it now. Everything’s okay.” 

Waverly leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek before wrapping her arms over her shoulders. “Thank you for telling me. I was just really worried yesterday. You would not _believe_ everything that happened in the past couple of days. Just…next time, when there’s a killer on the loose, can you try to remember to let me know where you are?”

“Of course. I’m sorry, Waves.” Nicole shifted their weight and pulled Waverly closer so she was sitting on her lap while her own back was pressed into the arm of the couch. “Dolls and Jeremy told me everything that happened. Did you get hurt at all?” 

“No, but you should have seen this wolf, Nicole! It was big. Dolls said that it wasn’t like the werewolf he saw a couple years ago, but he’s pretty sure that’s what it was.”

Nicole faked a surprised expression and tried to steer away the direction of the conversation. “Wow. But are you positive that the two incidents could have been related?”

“I mean they have to, right? What are the odds we find this wild wolf, and then a few minutes later we find the missing body all mangled and stuck up in a tree?”

Nicole chose to stay quiet while she let Waverly talk about her (wildly inaccurate) theories about werewolves and bloodlust and so forth. While Nicole knew she didn’t kill that boy, she was sure there was something out there that was responsible. She saw and smelt it just seconds before it would have revealed itself and most likely have taken Waverly with it.

Eventually, Waverly catches on to Nicole’s slightly more reserved demeanor and after finishing up the story about her afternoon researching at the library, she suggests they relax and do something non-demon related. “Wanna watch a movie or something? We haven’t done that in a while.”

Nicole pecked another kiss on her cheek, “Sure Waves, whatever you want.” 

Waverly hoped off her lap to check out the DVD collection her and Wynonna had obtained over the years. Nicole could honestly care less about what they watch, knowing there was a high possibly she would fall asleep with Waverly on top of her as soon as the movie started. Her wound still hadn’t fully recovered yet. Given she had been using so much of her healing powers, it took a lot out of her. All she really could think about was cuddling up with Waverly and sleeping until the morning.

The brunette settles on a cheesy Rom-Com. After she sets it up, she sits right next to Nicole and grabs a blanket to throw over their bodies. While the movie starts up, Nicole let her arm drape on the back cushion of the couch, eyes already drooping as she watches the opening credits flicker on and off the screen. 

It takes about fifteen minutes of Waverly playing with the rings on Nicole’s fingers for her to start turning it into something more.  She slowly turns her head to the side and presses a kiss to her jawline. Nicole feels herself wake up a little more, heart thumping again in her chest. Waverly keeps going down her neck, causing her eyelids to flutter shut. When Waverly concentrates on her pulse point, a soft noise escapes her mouth. A smile stretches across her girlfriend’s face in response and she pulls away for a moment, only for Nicole to open her eyes again and lean forward to catch her lips.

It gets more heated as Waverly’s fingers slip into the Nicole’s silky red hair on the back of her head. Nicole’s hands reach up to rest on her sides as Waverly moves herself to straddle Nicole’s lap.

Nicole feels her whole body prickle with warmth when Waverly deepens the kiss.  Her fingers are toying with the hemline of her shirt. Although several minutes had passed by, it seemed like eternities whenever Waverly kissed her. She pulls apart just for a moment, and it takes a second for Nicole to catch her breath as her chest puffs up and down.

Waverly’s eyes are bright and she’s got the mischievous look that could kill Nicole if she tried. She leans in again and whispers into Nicole’s ear, “When’s the last time we’ve had the house to ourselves?”

Nicole giggled, “I couldn’t tell you, Baby.”

She dives back into the kiss, this time, with a clear intent. It becomes faster and more rough rather quickly when Waverly nips down on Nicole’s bottom lip.

Right in the middle of it, she shifts her knee to change her position. It bumps against Nicole’s side, right over the bandaged wound, causing her to suck in a deep breath and yelp. Suddenly, she’s pulled out of the magic of it all and the reality begins to dawn on her. She still had bandages on her stomach. Waverly would clearly want to know what that was about if she saw it.

Waverly jumps back slightly, obviously alarmed when she realizes she hurt Nicole. The redhead is still cringing as she drops her hands from Waverly’s waist to the couch, curling them into fists. The brunette’s eyes are a wide as she pushes a strand of hair behind Nicole’s ear.

“Baby, are you okay? What happened?”

 "Ahhh, no-nothing!” Nicole stammers, trying to play it off coolly and failing miserably, “I’m a little sore is all.”

 “That didn’t sound okay…” Waverly’s eyes lower to Nicole’s stomach, “Are you hurt? Did something happen to you?”

 “No, no! Nothing like that. I just pulled a muscle I think when I was breaking up a bar fight the other night. That’s all.”

 Waverly looks unconvinced once more. For having to lie to her all the time, Nicole sure was terrible at it. She has a saving grace, however, when her phone begins ringing in her pocket. She carefully reached down to pull it out, sliding her finger across the screen quickly so she doesn’t have to answer to her clearly concerned girlfriend.

 “Haught! That was quick. Are you with Waves?” Wynonna greets over the phone.

 Nicole’s brown eyes flicker up to the girl in question. “Yep, she’s right here.”

 “Ugh, typical. I see you two made up fast. If you two were getting up to no good while Mama wasn’t home it better be contained to her bedroom, you hear me? But never mind that. Come to Shorty’s _now_. We’ve got a problem.” Wynonna quips, “Hurry up!”

 When the line goes dead she locks her phone and sighs loudly, “It was Wynonna, she wants us at Shorty’s. It sounded urgent.”

 Waverly rolls her eyes, “Of course she does. Even when she’s not home she still manages to interrupt us.”

 Nicole smirks at that before she pecks Waverly one more time on the cheek tenderly. She still is frowning and seems worried about her. “Hey, I’m fine, okay? Promise. Grab your jacket and let’s go find your sister.”

Waverly reluctantly gets up with a groan and leaves the room in a huff, still clearly annoyed that things had to get cut short. After she left the room, Nicole stood and lifted her shirt halfway up. She cursed lowly when she saw blood had started leaking through the gauze again. She would have to grab some more from the bathroom before they left. Though, when she hears Waverly’s steps pattering down the stairs again, she hastily drops her shirt and musters up the energy to plaster on a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked that! It seemed a little uneventful when I was writing it but I'm still kinda trying to get this fic moving. If you liked it please leave a comment! It makes me motivated and more likely to work faster, if I'm going to be completely honest. Chapter 3 will be a little more action-packed. 
> 
> Also, I'm sorry if there were any spelling/grammar errors I missed. If anyone's interested in proofreading for me and getting the chance to read the chapter early let me know :) 
> 
> Thanks again for the support!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Here is Chapter 3! Thank you to everyone who's given this fic a kudos/commented. I really, really, appreciate it! 
> 
> I want to mention that the account: just_one_of_those_days helped beta'd this chapter. She is amazing and an awesome writer and you should check out her fics too! Follow her on her tumblr as well: justoneofthosedays16.tumblr.com 
> 
> Enjoy reading!

When Nicole and Waverly arrived at Shorty’s, Nicole immediately noticed that the parking lot was rather full for even a Thursday night. They were quick to get into the bar which greeted them with the usual smell of beer and the patrons’ loud banter echoing off the walls.

Nicole grabbed Waverly’s hand and pulled her over to the bar when she spotted Rosita pouring Doc a whisky. Both Wynonna and Dolls stood beside them, too. When they reached them, Wynonna’s head turned and her eyes widened. “There you two are; about time!”

“This better be good, Wynonna.” Waverly warned, “I don’t think we’ve ever had the house to ourselves since we started dating.”

Wynonna feigns a look of disgust before hissing, “Please, Waves. Don’t need to hear what you get up to with Haught-Stuff when I’m not home. Anyways,  _ look _ .”

Wynonna pointed across the bar. In the corner of a booth was the boy from the woods, John Williams himself. He was sandwiched between one middle-aged man with curly graying hair and a much larger man with darker hair and a scruffy beard. The larger man’s eyes were cold and sharp and he wore a large, extravagant fur coat with that seemed to make his presence look even bigger. Rings adorned his fingers, and if Nicole had to guess, this guy must’ve had some sort of wealth to his name.

He turned his head, as if he could hear Wynonna talking about him from across the bar. His eyes met Nicole’s and she froze,  like a deer caught in headlights. She tensed beside Waverly, who glanced up at her with a curious look.

Nicole had to bite down on her tongue to keep herself from growling, but she immediately recognized the scent and realized that this had been the scent belonging to the beast that nearly attacked Waverly in the woods. She ground her teeth when the other man refused to look away, and it seems as though they’re in a stare-off until the other backs down.

“Ow, ow,  _ ow _ .” Waverly snapped, “Nicole, you’re hurting my hand.”

Nicole blinked a few times before looking down at Waverly, immediately dropping her hand. She hadn’t realized she had still been holding onto it. Waverly rubbed her knuckles and Nicole apologized, “Oh god, I’m sorry, Baby.”

When she looked up, she realized the whole group, including Rosita behind the bar, was staring at her. Wynonna’s eyebrows were raised. Dolls nodded across the room. “Uh, do you know that guy, Officer Haught? It looks like you recognized each other.”

Nicole glanced back at the booth. The man had returned back to his conversation. John Williams talked to both of them. It was an odd picture to see this young kid having a serious conversation with them. Nicole noticed he no longer bore any of the scratches or gashes that had been described to her. If anything, he looked probably healthier than he could ever have been.

_ Oh crap,  _ she thought to herself,  _ well that can only mean one thing… _

“Officer Haught?” Dolls’ voice made her shake her head and turn her attention back to him again.

“Sorry, sorry.” She frowned. “No, I don’t know him.”

Wynonna scoffed, “You sure? You looked like you were going to punch him in the face if he took a step in our direction.”

“Err, nope. Wouldn’t want to mess with that guy, though. I was just thinking about the kid. How is he fine? I thought you guys said he was dead.”

Nicole’s attempt to steer away the conversation was somewhat successful. Wynonna still gave her a strange look but continued to say, “He  _ was  _ dead. Now he’s un-dead, apparently. And I have a few choice words for the three of them.”

“Wynonna, wait—”  Dolls started, but she had already stormed over, an angry expression pinched on her features. With a grunt, he followed her. Nicole was about to too, when a beat later she felt a hand gripping her wrist lightly and holding her back.

“Hey,” Waverly muttered gently. “Stay here. That guy didn’t exactly give you a friendly look, either.”

Nicole’s jaw locked and she stared in the direction Wynonna stormed off in, but she reigned it back in for Waverly’s sake. She watched the scene unfold in front of her from across the bar, Waverly’s touch being the only thing that held her still.

“All right,  _ real _ funny shit you pulled there, kiddo,” Wynonna sneered as she approached the booth. All three occupants looked up at her. While the other two seem unfazed, John Williams cowered slightly, knowing just exactly who Wynonna Earp was. “Why don’t you go ahead and tell me why you thought it was so fucking funny to fake your death and show up in a bar like nothing happened two days later? I mean, when I was a teen we used to set firecrackers off in the hallways at school. You dang kids these days take it too far.”

She feigned an elderly voice near the end of her rant. When she turned to the two men, and then to Dolls, as if expecting a response, and they remained straight-faced she groans, “Damn, tough crowd. No, but seriously. What the fuck?”

“While we appreciate you coming over here to chat, I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” the bigger man said gruffly, voice raspy and putting even Wynonna on edge.

“Oh yeah? Well, joke’s on you because I pretty much own this bar.” She glanced over to where Rosita and Doc are standing before amending, “Well, I  _ sort of  _ own this bar.” Dolls shook  his head, and Wynonna snapped, “Fine! Jesus. I  _ know the guy  _ who owns this bar. So if you want to intimidate me, you got another thing coming. What’s your name anyways? What are you doing hanging around a kid fresh out of high school? Creep, much?”

The man finally stood, revealing that he was several inches taller than Dolls himself. A few yards away, Nicole’s teeth ground down even harder. She hardly noticed the rumbling coming from her chest until she felt Waverly jolt and drop her hand beside her. The smaller girl gasped, “Did you just  _ growl _ ?”

Just as she had been yanked out of her concentration before when Wynonna interrupted, her head jerked back in her girlfriend’s direction. She blinked before muttering, “No, what are you talking about?”

“I just heard you, Nicole!”

“It was probably the heating above our heads,” Nicole said nonchalantly, attention still distracted by what was going on across the bar. Wynonna and Dolls not getting killed was her priority right then, which might have been  impossible given Waverly’s sister’s talent for sticking her foot in her mouth.

“The name’s Bobo Del Rey,” Nicole can hear from across the bar. It was a name she’d certainly heard before, but couldn’t place her finger on just where. “And I would advise you to stick your nose where it belongs—”

Nicole was already speed walking over to the scene before Waverly could even get a word in protest out. She expertly slid between the space of Wynonna and Bobo, hands held up against her chest. Technically, she was out of uniform, but she still wore her Purgatory Police Department hat snugly on her head, on full view for Bobo to see.

He stopped at the sight of her, eyes locked on her figure while Nicole interrupted, “Whoa, whoa. Hey now, no need to get hostile. We wouldn’t want the police to get involved, would we?”

The much larger man stayed silent, but his gaze was withering and icy. It have scared Nicole if it weren’t for the fact that she had to put on a big presence if she wanted him to know she would protect Wynonna and Dolls if she had to.

Suddenly, a wide grin stretched across his face. It was unsettling to say the least, and made the hairs on the back of Nicole’s neck rise. He snickered. “This is rich.”

Dolls bit back from behind, “We’ll need to take John Williams in for questioning given he is no longer a missing person.”

Nicole turned to the teen who was still in the booth. “Would you mind coming to the station with us?”

Bobo snapped, “We have absolutely nothing to hide. Take the boy if you want.” He said with a simple shrug. “Levi, let’s go.” He snapped his fingers and the other man rose, giving John one last sour look before joining Bobo’s side.

Before they left, though, Bobo got in close to Nicole’s face. His voice was incredibly low, so quiet in fact, that only Nicole could hear him given her heightened senses, he snarled, “I know what you are. And it looks like they don’t since I saw them shoot you.” He paused. “Stay out of my way and we won’t have any trouble.”

Nicole hissed back just as fiercely, “Stay out of my town and we won’t have any trouble.”

Bobo leaned back again so his posture was straight. Nicole did the same, keeping her head held just as high. “Hm. Guess we’ll have to see about that.” He pointed vaguely towards her stomach area. “You might want to get something for that. You’re about the bleed through your shirt.”

And then he walked out, boots thumping against the hardwood floor. People watched him, clearly lost in a trance. When the saloon doors slammed shut behind him, people began to talk and chat again as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. Which wasn’t the craziest thing, given Purgatory’s track record of weirdos.

Nicole pulled her jacket a little tighter to her chest. She hadn’t even really noticed the pain since she had been so stressed out about Bobo hurting her friends. She would have to change the bandages as soon as she got to the station.

The redhead was  still stiff when Wynonna and Dolls walked around to face her. Wynonna looked astonished. “Well? What did he say to you? You look as pale as a ghost.”

“I have to go.” Nicole gulped before turning side to side a few times, as if trying to figure out where exactly to go. She spotted John who was still sitting quietly in the booth, not quite knowing what to say. While she knew she needed to  talk to Waverly, and find out where the hell Bobo went off to as well as what he planned to do, she knew first and foremost she had to help this kid out.

She waved him forward, “Come on, let’s go. Your family will be relieved to see you.”

He nodded curtly and scooted out of the booth. Just as Nicole was ready to leave, Waverly appeared  behind her. “Nicole, hold on. What just happened?”

“Waves, I’m sorry but I really can’t talk right now. I have to bring him into the station so he can get back home to his family. If you want, I’ll come by the homestead and we can talk then.”

Waverly inhaled deeply, looking mildly annoyed at the situation. She clearly wanted answers. However, with one glance towards the boy she finally nodded and stepped aside. “Okay, but come back straight after. I’ll wait up for you.”

Nicole smiled at Waverly before nodding at John Williams again and leading him out of the bar.

“Hang on, Officer Haught! I’ll come with you.”

Nicole tried not to wince at the sound of Agent Dolls’ voice. As they walked side by side out of the bar, his nose wrinkled and he asked, “Do you smell something metallic? Almost like blood. He’s okay, isn’t he?” He was hesitant, eyeing the boy who walked in front of them.

Nicole ignored the blood dripping down her stomach under her layers of clothes and shook her head quickly. “Nope, can’t say I do.”

\---

When Nicole reached the station she headed straight to the bathroom to clean up while Dolls took John to the Black Badge Division wing of the department. Thankfully, she had a first aid kit in her office desk drawer for common injury incidences such as this one, so she was able to sanitize and clean the wound properly.

It was strange that the wound hadn’t healed completely yet by now, much less that it continued to bleed. Nicole knew deep down the only reason could be stress that must have been weakening her healing abilities. 

John Williams didn’t provide them with as much information as they were hoping for. Dolls was pushing him too hard, Nicole realized early on. She tried to be slightly more gentle, but whatever happened within the past couple of days had made the boy totally closed off.

“What about Bobo Del Rey, what’s his connection to you?”

The boy sighed heavily. “Look, I wasn’t the smartest kid in school. But, I know I’m eighteen and since I’m not a minor you can’t  _ not _ question me, but shouldn’t I have a lawyer or something? Is there like, an ongoing investigation?” He shrugged. “I mean, I told you everything. I don’t know what you guys saw in the woods but I was fine all week. I must have been out hiking or something when you guys came by the cabin. But I’ve been there ever since I fought with my parents and ran off.”

Dolls shut up after that. Nicole had called John’s parents and they arrived shortly after. She talked to both of them individually before sending them off for the night, but other than that, there wasn’t much else she could do. However, she held him back for a moment just as he was about to leave the station. “John, wait.”

He spun and looked at her expectantly.

“If…if that guy is bothering you, let me know. About anything strange, okay?”

She hoped he got the message, because if he was bitten like she predicted he was, then no doubt he was scared and confused. But instead, he shrugged and thanked her before following his parents to the parking lot.

“Why do you look so upset?” Nicole asked Dolls as she returned, sitting against the desk in the front office of the station. It was already well past midnight, and part of her hoped Waverly didn’t stay up waiting for her. “Cheer up. The kid is okay. We got him home.”

“I know what we saw in the woods, Nicole.”

“This isn’t the first time some freaky shit happened in Purgatory’s woods. Are you sure it wasn’t a hallucination or something? Maybe a spell, or--?”

“It wouldn’t add up. It  _ doesn’t  _ add up,” Dolls grumbled. “Do you think that Bobo Del Rey could have been the wolf we saw?”

Nicole bit her lip and folded her arms across her chest. “It’s plausible.”

Dolls double checked to make sure they’re alone again before he told her quietly, “I still think it’s werewolves. Only, I’ve seen a werewolf before, but it didn’t look like the one I saw in the woods. The one I saw could switch between bipedal and quadrupedal. Its claws were a lot longer and it had more human-like hands. It was just overall bigger. The one we saw that night looked like a big, plain, old wolf. The only thing that’s throwing me off is that there are no wolves around this part of the state. Only coyotes. It just seems too coincidental.”

Nicole remained quiet throughout his thought process. When he looked up at her, she offered, “I’m not really sure, Dolls, but I wonder if BBD would have some records on it? Maybe you can get Waverly to research that. I’m more of the clear-the-drunks-at-the-high-school-football-game kind of cop.”

Dolls frowned at her. Normally Nicole didn’t like to talk herself down. She was proud of the public work she did for the town. It wasn’t as adventurous as Black Badge per se, but she’d seen enough action in her downtime to last for the rest of her life. “Right.” He shook his head.“I forgot. We better head out, it’s getting late.”

The homestead was about a twenty-minute drive from town. Everything was so spread out that Nicole could drive for miles and miles on end and not see anything besides passing herds of cows across open plains.

When she parked her car and headed inside using her spare key, all the lights were turned off in the house. Nicole tip-toed upstairs and into Waverly’s open bedroom.

Although the light was on, Waverly was fast asleep on top of her blankets which was unusual since she liked to pile them on at night. It’s an odd quirk, given Nicole’s body was already more warm than most, and generally just radiated heat. It made Nicole hot under all the covers, but she put up with it for Waverly.

Nicole came to the conclusion that Waverly probably fell asleep waiting up for her. She hated to wake her up, but she knew she would be freezing all night if she didn’t. Very gently, Nicole nudged her arm and spoke softly, “Psssst, hey, Waves.”

Waverly woke up groggily, reaching out and gripping Nicole’s forearm. She looks up at her bleary-eyed and mumbled, “Y’made it. What time is it?

“Almost two. I’m sorry I’m late. Let me help you get into bed.”

“M’got it.”

Nicole let Waverly get up only to push her blankets off halfway and help her slip into bed. Nicole herself moved over to the dresser and grabbed some of the clothes she left at Waverly’s house. After pulling on a tank top and shorts (careful not to let Waverly see the front of her body), she got in after her, wrapping her arm around her waist and pulling Waverly close against her chest.

Waverly continued to grumble sleepily, “Don’t think you’re out of it. We’re still talking in the mornin’.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Waves.”

\----

A few days passed without another strange occurrence. Waverly, of course, questioned Nicole to no end the following morning. She answered in the most honest way she could, but her secret was becoming harder and harder to keep.

She never regretted anything. She loved Waverly, through and through. Sure, they fought and argued like any other couple. But Waverly was the first person she knew she would do anything for. She was the first person that truly made her want to lay her cards out on the table and break down her walls and just be  _ open  _ with. And that terrified her.

It was also getting to the point where Nicole began to figure out that Waverly didn’t know if she entirely believed her all the time. By now, her wound had finally healed up and she was back to her old self. Nicole would have felt more secure, though, if it weren’t for the fact that there was a rogue werewolf in town that put her on edge.

Every night, she went out looking for him. Even when she was staying overnight at the homestead, there was always a certain time after her girlfriend was fast asleep that she would leave for several hours to run through the plains of Purgatory in a fruitless search for Bobo. She had caught his scent when they first met at the bar, but she hadn’t been able to pick it up since. He clearly was hiding himself well.

About a week after their first encounter, Nicole found herself prowling through the tall grass a little way from the Earp farm. The moon shined brightly behind a trail of ominous clouds. It felt good to be back in her wolf form. It almost was as if she was slipping into an old pair of shoes. Her muscles ached a little, but other than that, she felt great.

She covered more ground on four legs, anyways. She went about the night like every one before it. Normally, she tried to find the familiar scent of another werewolf. While she usually came up with only the smells of farmlands, grass, and gasoline, this specific night was much, much different.

Almost as if the scent punched her in the face, she caught a strong whiff of it nearby the tree line entrance to the woods. Her ears pricked up in excitement, finally relieved to have come across something. With her nose pressed to the ground, she padded across the forest floor in attempt to find Bobo’s hideout.

Nicole rarely ever got scared of working alone, but Purgatory also was one of her first major cases she had been sent to work on. Even when she had told her family that she would be sent there, she was met with wary looks. Her younger brother had scoffed, “I’ve heard of that place before. I’m pretty sure I heard dad say it was cursed. Good luck, Cole. You’ll definitely have your work cut out for you.”

She hadn’t seen her family in a long time, but she wondered what they would think of this situation now. For one, they would be furious if they found about Waverly. For another, if this Bobo guy was as threatening as she thought he was, she wasn’t sure how she would be able to take him on. While Purgatory had seen its fair share of supernatural creatures, she’d heard urban legends about some monsters that would be one hell of a match to fight against.

While her mind wandered to her family, Waverly, and the supernatural in general, she missed the shadows that crept behind her, slipping away into the brush.

Nicole came across a small rocky hill. A waterfall crashed down from it and pooled down by a little pond. She wondered briefly if this is where Bobo had been this entire time.

The scent of fresh blood pulled her out of her conscious thought, and she let the wolf take over. Moving quickly but quietly, she climbed up the side of the rocky mountain. She was about 30 feet up in the air when she reached the top, the scent of blood only stronger.

Her golden eyes widened at the sight of a body lying face-down on the ground. She trotted over, nose sniffing over the figure. She could hear a soft pulse. Her wet nose pressed against the young man’s face. He looked like he must be a couple years older than John Williams.

“Uhhh…” He groaned, reaching out. He stiffened when he feels fur, and lifted his head. “Ahhh!”

Nicole paused when she faced him. He was clearly scared, but she wasn’t quite sure just how to console him. A noise distracted her, though, and the hairs on her back rose when she saw another figure come into view.

Creeping from the shadows, he brought himself forward in the moonlight. While Bobo Del Rey was a werewolf just like Nicole, there were a few notable characteristics that were different from her. For one, he could switch between walking on two feet to four. And, while Nicole just looked like a larger version of a wolf,  Bobo, on the other hand, was more of a mix between man and beast. Just as Dolls had described, he had hands similar to a human’s, with long, reaching claws that could slash through flesh like butter. His face, dominated by dark, clouded red eyes was much more terrifying than Nicole’s: a long, snarled snout revealed sharp teeth, while drool  and blood dripped from his jaws. 

It took him only a second to move toward the boy before Nicole sprang into action. She lunged and leaped, soaring through the air and snapping her jaw around the werewolf’s throat. The boy in question screamed before sprinting away with all his might down the hillside.

Bobo threw her off and she slid to the ground. While she tried to find the direction the young man ran off to, she suddenly realized they weren’t alone. More wolves—these ones more similar to her own stature—begin to linger around them, forming a tight circle. There had to be at least ten of them, all watching and waiting.

Bobo let out a ferocious growl, egging her on. Nicole wasn’t as interested in getting into a fight as much as she was about whether or not the boy was okay. Still, she couldn’t let Bobo think she felt challenged, so she faced him squarely. She charged at him again, jumping and aiming for the jugular, but he simply swiped outward, sending her flying into a couple of wolves who had been watching the scene. Just as she’s about to get up, he jumped and landed beside her, grabbing her hind leg with his enormous hand. Without warning, he tossed her over the cliff.

And then it was over before it even began.

Nicole wheezed when she started to fall down a few boulders, wind knocking out of her lungs. Her claws reached out, scratching as she tried to get some control before she ended up snapping her neck. When she finally landed, she tried everything in her power to catch her breath. She could still taste Bobo’s blood on her tongue, a taste so vile it made her stomach curl.

When she looked to the top, she could see that Bobo was standing there in his human form, smirking so smugly as he paraded down the hillside. When he reached Nicole, he put a boot over her ribs, pressing down harshly. Nicole growled, threatening to bite his foot off and he laughed at her. “This is the best that the Irish send over? Years of this pure blood lineage, and you’re all they have to show to your Faoladh ancestors? How pathetic.”

Nicole snapped her jaw on his ankle and he swore before kicking her square in the neck, knocking the wind out of her once more. “Listen to me, Officer. You get the fuck out of these woods, and you stay out of my way like I told you to. You come looking for me again and I’ll make sure my pack sees to it that you never step foot in Purgatory again.” He squatted down beside Nicole who panted heavily, starting to think she might have just broken a rib or two. “You see, I have my own agenda here. Protect this little town as much as you want from whatever the hell those pansy Revenant demons think they are. I don’t care.”

Nicole finally struggled to stand up. She wanted to keep fighting—wanted to rip Bobo’s face off, even, but he wasn’t finished. “Your kind might travel alone, but let me tell you. You’re useless against an alpha and his pack. Come back again, and I’ll make sure they rip out your friends’ throats before they get the chance to wail.”

He snapped his fingers and a few wolves appeared at the top of the hill. “Will you all be so kind as to escort this lovely Officer out? It’s been great talking to you---ahh, was it Nicky?”

Nicole bared her teeth one more time at him before the rest of Bobo’s pack ran down the hill. She turned and stumbled away towards the brush. Although she wanted to look for the boy, she knew if she spent any more time in these woods it could be fatal.

When her paws hit the dirt she ran with all of her might. Dead leaves and twigs flew in her wake as she tried to navigate her way out of the woods. She could hear the pounding of the pack behind her, each one chasing her as though she were a rabbit they were playing after as a prize. Howls boomed through the forest, all on some wild goose chase to catch her.

She broke through the forest, but didn’t stop running until her lungs were about to give out and her body was seconds away from collapsing with exhaustion. The sun was just peaking  over the clouds as she staggered through the tall grass.

Her vision became blurry and she could feel herself shifting back to her human form. The pack must have stopped following her in the woods because she was all alone when she fell down to the ground. Her clothes were torn and tattered and bloodied once more. Nicole’s breath was labored, and she tried to even it out though her chest was killing her. She flipped over onto her back, staring up as light began to shine through the sky. If she were to stand up and look out over the horizon, she would see that the scent that brought her back home was still fast asleep about a mile away at the Earp homestead.

Nicole’s ears pricked once more when she heard boots crunching against the dirt and grass. She closed her eyes, accepting her fate. When she realized that her only true regret was not telling Waverly the truth, she felt her heart ache a little stronger in her chest. If Waverly was the last thing in her mind before death, then maybe it wouldn’t be such a horrible way to go.

As consciousness began to slip away, she felt two strong arms slip underneath her and lift her up. Her eyes struggled to stay open as she muttered, “Waverly…bring me to Waverly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh so much excitement. Don't worry guys, have faith that Nicole will tell Waverly the truth soon. I promise it's coming soon. 
> 
> Next chapter we'll find out a little bit more about Nicole's past/why she has to keep this a secret from Waverly and her friends. Get ready!!! 
> 
> Also, if you have any questions or suggestions you could reach me at my tumblr: commonwayfarer.tumblr.com . I'm not ready for the season finale, so if anyone wants to bond over that feel free to cry with me there.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys liked that, please let me know if you like it so I actually feel motivated to keep writing. There's going to be a lot more involved in Nicole's backstory and the investigation I mentioned, too. I just figure this is a good teaser of what the story would be like. 
> 
> The title is from the song Never Let Me Go by Florence + the Machine, check it out. I might end up changing the title later but who knows!!! Also!!! Follow me on tumblr @ commonwayfarer.tumblr.com if you wanna chat about the show or anything in general. 
> 
> I’m a little bit nervous about next week’s episode, so hopefully everything goes okay!! Keep your fingers crossed!!


End file.
